Robbery shows danger of resisting
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
The president of the Hawai'i Pawnbrokers Association yesterday said he wanted pawnshop owners to think twice about confronting robbers after Saturday's Kapahulu shootout.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
A pawnshop owner and gunman were wounded during the botched robbery at GH Pawn and Gold Exchange at 936 Kapahulu Ave., across from Leonard's Bakery.
Honolulu Police Department investigators study the front of GH Pawn shop on Kapahulu Avenue, where they said a botched robbery led to a gunfight that injured the shop owner and a suspect.
The owner, a 52-year-old Pearl City man, was in serious condition, and the suspect, a 34-year-old Kaimuki man, was in fair condition at The Queen's Medical Center yesterday, police said.
The Kaimuki man faces charges including first-degree robbery, second-degree attempted murder and various firearm and drug offenses.
Police said the gunman shot at the owner twice and ran through the rear of the pawnshop. Police caught him in the Market City Shopping Center area.
A bullet ripped through the rear window of a passing Honda four-door sedan. Police said the couple in the car was not hurt, but the woman driving was shaken.
Saturday's shootout was the first pawnshop robbery resulting in injury since an attempted robbery of Ke'eaumoku Pawn Shop in October 2000. A robber armed with a butcher knife fought with the store owner, who suffered a cut arm.
In 1995, robbers shot a shop owner in the head during a heist at GH Pawn Shop on Young Street. The owner survived.
Wayne McKee, a former Honolulu police officer who owns Waipahu-Hawai'i Pawn on Farrington Highway, advised pawnshop owners not to fight robbers, though he knows most of them will resist before handing over goods or money.
"If it's your property, you're more likely to fight for it," he said. "It's human nature. You have to be smart enough to give it up."
McKee advised owners to install a video surveillance system to deter criminals. He said he has a system displayed prominently in his shop.
"This is what I suggest to pawn shops: have a TV and camera, and point to the camera to let customers know they are being recorded," said McKee, who has been in the business for 15 years.
There are about 60 pawnshops on O'ahu, most with some sort of security system.
"We've gone close to two years since the last incident," McKee said. "The odds of being in a pawnshop while it's being robbed are rare."
